First half

The weather conditions today were very cold and extremely wet. Ravenshead got the game underway and played some good passing football. Cotgrave were still asleep when Ravenshead took the lead on 6 minutes with a great strike from outside the area. Ravenshead then doubled their lead on 13 minutes with another fine effort from distance to make it 2-0. Cotgrave decided to wake up after they conceded the second goal, and Will Robinson replied with his first goal on 14 minutes. Cotgrave pushed for a second goal but were caught on the counter as Ravenshead grabbed a third goal on 17 minutes to make it 3-1. Cotgrave looked like they were still very much in the game at this stage. Liam, Josh and Zak worked hard in midfield, and their effort and determination was rewarded when Will Robinson grabbed two more goals before half time on 19 and 23 minutes to complete his hat-trick. Johnny kept chasing every ball, and kept the Ravenshead defence on their toes. George and Keaton were again solid in defence, and are now forming a great partnership at the back.

Half time Ravenshead 3 – 3 Cotgrave

Second half

Cotgrave piled on some early pressure from the kick off, and after a goalmouth scramble, Joshua Childs fired Cotgrave ahead on 29 minutes to make it 3-4. The players on both sides were now soaked through, cold and tired. The second half became scrappy but remained fairly even on both sides. Ravenshead took a throw –in deep inside the Cotgrave half, and the ball struck the shoulder of a Ravenshead player and bounced over Jake to make it 4-4 on 35 minutes. Both sides lacked motivation in the remaining 10 minutes of the second half, but this was not surprising after the weather conditions that they had endured.

Final Score Ravenshead 4–4Cotgrave

Extra Time

Ravenshead took an early lead in extra time scoring in the 51st minute to make it 5-4, but Cotgrave battled back to make it 5-5 on 54 minutes when Luke Williams grabbed his first Clarets goal. The game looked like it was going to be decided on penalties, until Johnny Commins turned past the last Ravenshead defender, and blasted the ball into the back of the net on 58 minutes to make it 5-6 to Cotgrave. Cotgrave saw out the final minute in the Ravenshead half with four consecutive corners, before the ref blew the final whistle.

Final Score after extra time Ravenshead 5-6 Cotgrave

Summary

Wow, what a fantastic performance from everyone today. Everyone deserves credit today for how well they played. The weather conditions were poor, but you all showed great character and battled well, right up to the final whistle to earn a well deserved victory. We probably started as the underdogs today against highflying Ravenshead, who are top of division 3, but we did not look out of place anywhere on the field today. The game was played in typical cup-tie fashion, with some great goals from both teams. A big Well Done to Ravenshead and the Clarets for making it such an entertaining game for both sets of spectators.

Also a big thanks to Rowena and Fiona for keeping the boys motivated and warm with your warm up techniques at half time. Or were the star jumps part of the half time entertainment? Either way, what you did seemed to work.

Keenan Berry missed today’s game after a hernia operation, so get well soon Keeno!